


Popular

by myaekingheart



Series: The Scarecrow and the Bell [17]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Mood Swings, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 19:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30009573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myaekingheart/pseuds/myaekingheart
Summary: It's not easy being engaged to Kakashi Hatake. He is smart, skilled, attractive...Normally, Rei is not bothered by her fiance's renown. As her emotions begin to spin out of control, however, she finds it harder and harder to believe that she is worth anything to him. Especially with so many beautiful women vying for his attention...[Standalone companion piece to The Scarecrow and The Bell]
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Natsuki Rei, Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Scarecrow and the Bell [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913203
Kudos: 4





	Popular

Rei drew her knees up to her chest and laid her head down, tugging at the fraying hem of her tunic as she idly gazed out the window. Kakashi was bound to be home any minute. Her stomach stirred. He seemed to be gone an awful lot these days. She tried not to let her loneliness consume her, but it was hard to resist when it weighed so heavy on her.

It made sense, really. Kakashi was a renowned shinobi. He was talented, smart…attractive. With Naruto off training and Sasuke defected, he was often placed on random teams with various shinobi. Some Rei knew, and others she had never seen before in her life. Konoha was lucky that Kakashi was versatile, he could work well with anyone. It was that versatility, however, along with his pleasant nature, his good looks…

Rei was getting ahead of herself. She spun the engagement ring on her finger, thought of the life growing inside of her. _Their_ life. Perhaps it was just the hormones, but maybe…just maybe…

She saw the way the other women looked at him. It was the same way they always had. Their eyes were so bright with wonder, their cheeks blushing and smiles broad. Kakashi was popular. There was something about him that was just so enticing. Rei should’ve known—after all, she had fallen for it herself, hadn’t she? By virtue of being his fiancée? Not that she considered herself like all the others. No, she knew Kakashi deeply. They had a history that no other girl in the village could even begin to comprehend. She knew him before he became himself, before he transformed and evolved into the man he was today. She loved him through the hardships—or at least distantly, quietly so. She never stopped loving him even when all he could manage to do was kill.

The ring on her finger should have been security. It should have reminded her that she was Kakashi’s choice, that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Deep down, she knew this to be true. It was when she saw the other women that he worked with, however, that she felt her logic fall asunder. Konoha was filled with beautiful women, all of which possessing charm and dignity that Rei did not possess. She rose to her feet, slipped into the bathroom, surveyed herself for a moment.

She raked her fingers through her auburn hair, tangled as usual. Her long bangs crowded her face and her ponytail was puffy and wild. She wondered what she would look like with a middle part, or long straight hair, like the way so many other women in the village worn theirs. Or a hair color that was not so abrupt and obnoxious, like the color of fall leaves dead and decaying or the violent flames of a forest fire. Her eyebrows were too thick and imposing. Her eyes were mossy and uneventful. Her teeth were crooked and her smile was atrocious and of course there was that godawful scar. She traced the edge of it with her finger, the way it rode up and then down the bridge of her nose, straight across her face in a horizontal line so that it was completely unavoidable. Rei sighed. Every time she thought she had come to accept such an unsightly flaw, she felt her crumbling self esteem reel her right back in.

She wondered what her life would be like if she was taller, and how she would view the world from up high. For a moment, she pressed her back against the doorway, flattened her ponytail, placed her hand squarely atop her head to measure. When she pulled back, she frowned. She wondered if she was just destined to never grow taller than a standard genin. She was sure even Naruto was taller than her now. Sakura had already surpassed her.

Rei’s hand skated down from the top of her head to her chest, cupping and poking at her breasts. They were already decently sized but now that she was pregnant, they had grown even more so. She was terrified to think of how much worse things would get. She imagined them growing bigger and bigger until they were the size of her head, and then ultimately exploding at the stress of their own weight. Or even worse, draining completely until they were nothing but sagging sacks on her chest. A shiver ran down her spine. She shoved the thoughts of her head.

And really, despite everything, she had no room to complain. Not anymore. It was all so superficial compared to what she was faced with now. She rested a hand on her stomach, the small bump signaling a mere three months pregnant. They had hardly even told anyone yet. They wanted to keep it to themselves while they still could.

If the ring was not security enough, the child inside of her should’ve made up for the rest. _Should_ being the operative word. If anything, it even made her feel worse. Her body was going through hell. She was irritable and tired and sick all the time. She didn’t think she was very pleasant to be around. She feared, deep down, that Kakashi began to consider her a mistake. That he began to consider everything about his life with her a mistake. That perhaps he wanted something new, someone who was joyful and sweet and tender. Someone who did not throw pillows at his head for cooking noodles the wrong way—was there even a wrong way to cook noodles? —and then have a forty-five-minute mental breakdown about it all.

For what it was worth, however, Rei always knew that she was an unpleasant person. It was a fact that both Sekkachi and her own anxious brain would not let her forget. Why Kakashi had ever fallen in love with her to begin with was beyond her. If he was blind when he fell for her, she was certain her pregnancy would sharpen his visual acuity real fast.

By the time the key turned in the lock and Kakashi stepped inside, Rei realized she had started to cry. She supposed the weight of her own undoing had triggered her sensitive emotions. She quickly wiped away her tears in the bathroom mirror, prayed he would not notice the redness in her eyes, then stepped out into the living room.

“I was wondering when you’d get back” she croaked.

Kakashi cocked a brow, tugging his mask down and replying with a soft smile. “I couldn’t get home fast enough.”

“How was work?” she asked. She stood stock-still in the doorway, arms crossed at her waist as if trying to diminish her own presence. As if she was afraid of taking up space. As if she understood now that she essentially took up more space than she would ever want by virtue of her own pregnancy.

“Work was fine” Kakashi replied. He slithered out of his vest, kicked his shoes off at the front door. “I was teamed up with some rookies who had a really hard time remembering protocol” he explained, chuckling lightly. Normally this would’ve made him frustrated—after all, shouldn’t they have learned the ropes by now? His light spirit made Rei anxious. “One of them accidentally launched a kunai at her teammate in the middle of the night because she tried to go to the bathroom and her friend didn’t realize it was her.”

Rei laughed nervously, muttering under her breath “Yeah, that’s…that’s really funny.” She hated the thought of Kakashi on an overnight with other women. She hated the thought of them all around the campfire, roasting dinner together and laughing and carrying on. She hated the thought of them all sleeping in their futons, and the possibility of one of them growing cold in the night and snuggling up to Kakashi for warmth. It all made her so fucking sick.

Kakashi scratched Toshio behind the ear, the dog half-asleep on the couch, before striding forward and wrapping his arms around Rei. “How was home?” he asked.

“Nothing important” Rei muttered. She wanted to turn away, but she couldn’t. She was paralyzed in his embrace. And here now in his arms, she felt her heart break in her chest all over again. Her breath hitched in her throat, constricting, and she tightened her grip on his shirt. And then, as if on their own accord, she began to cry.

It took Kakashi a moment to recognize this but once he did, he pulled away and looked at her with bittersweet concern. “Hey, what’s the matter?” he asked, voice soft and tender. He brushed the bangs out of her face, cupped her cheek, tilted her face up to look at him. She kept her eyes locked on the ground. She was pathetic.

“It’s really nothing” she lied, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “Just…mood swings.”

Kakashi cocked a brow. He wasn’t buying it. “Did something happen while I was gone? Are you hurt? Rei, tell me” he demanded.

Rei shook her head, tried to turn away. “N-No, it’s fine. Promise. I just…I just really missed you.”

Sighing, Kakashi hugged her close and rubbed her back gently. “It’s alright, Rei. I’m here now” he assured her. “I promise, the entire time I was gone, all I could think about was how desperate I was to come back home to you.”

Rei instinctively scoffed and Kakashi recoiled, confused. “Are you sure about that?” she asked softly.

“Of course” Kakashi replied. “Why would you think any different?”

Rei shrugged, folding in on herself again. “I don’t know…maybe because I’m not much to come home to.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. He really wasn’t understanding anything that she was getting at now, but he wanted to.

“It’s stupid, really” Rei shook her head. She quickly regretted ever saying anything. She shouldn’t have given him any reason to believe she was upset. But now the floodgates had already been opened, she couldn’t seem to stop crying and Kakashi did deserve answers. Sniffling, she continued, “I just…do you ever wonder if you’d be happier with…with someone else?”

“Someone else?” Kakashi repeated in disbelief.

Rei nodded. “Yeah…you know, someone who’s…I don’t know, prettier. Nicer. Someone who’s not so ugly and gross.”

“ _Rei_ ” Kakashi interrupted, and this time his voice was firm, angry. Rei sobbed and buried her face in her hands. Kakashi’s heart broke. He sighed, rested a hand on her shoulders, forced her to look at him. “Rei, there is no one else for me but you. I love you more than anything. You are my everything. My whole world. I wouldn’t have any reason to keep going without you. Why would you ever think I’d give that up?” His hand skated down to her belly, caressed her waist softly, added, “Especially now.”

Another sob caught in Rei’s throat as she looked him in the eyes. “I-I don’t know” she whimpered. “I don’t know, I’m just really stupid, I just…how can you love me?”

Kakashi pursed his lips, shook his head. “It was never a question of _how_ ” he replied. “There is no _how_. Only that I do. It’s like breathing. I don’t have to remind myself to do it, it just happens on it’s own. And I need you just as much as I need air. Is that understood?”

Rei nodded slowly. “I guess…” she whispered.

“Rei, I don’t care what anyone else might say or think” Kakashi continued. “I don’t care if there are a million beautiful women in the village who all want to be with me. They don’t matter. None of them do. The only person I care about, the only person I want to be with, is you.” He leaned down, planted a soft kiss on her cheek. “I want to marry you” he whispered, with another kiss, “I want to have babies with you”—another kiss— “I want to come home to you every single day”—yet another— “And take care of you”—another— “and grow old with you”—another— “I want to spend every day of the rest of my life getting everything we’ve ever wanted, of living happily ever after, with you”—and another and another and another.

By now, the tears were streaming down Rei’s cheeks heavy and fast. She could hardly keep her breathing steady. She clutched his shirt desperately, her knees buckled beneath her. “K-Kakashi…” she whimpered through her tears.

Without another moment of hesitation, Kakashi scooped Rei up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom. He laid her down gently, pulled the blanket up under her chin and tucked her in like a small child. He brushed the bangs out of her face and in his eyes, she saw all the love she had needed to receive from him. All the reassurance she had been so desperate for. “Rei, I love you more than anything” he repeated. “And I want you to be confident in knowing that that is never going to change, no matter what happens to you or your body or what other women might look like. No matter, you are _perfect_ to me. You always have been, and you always will be.”

Rei forced a laugh through her tears, shook her head. “You really are such a sap, Kakashi” she whispered.

Chuckling under his breath, Kakashi patted the copy of _Icha Icha_ on his nightstand and replied, “Blame the books.” A soft smile flickered on her lips as her sobs seemed to subside and Kakashi’s heart overflowed. “That’s what I like to see” he whispered. “No more tears.”

“I can’t guarantee anything” Rei jested.

Kakashi kissed the tip of her nose sweetly then before rising to his feet. “Get some rest” he suggested. “I’ll go make us something to eat.”

All Rei could do was nod and watch him walk away. She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep—heaven only knew she needed it. Meanwhile, Toshio lumbered into the room and climbed up onto the bed beside her feet. He rested his heavy head on her thighs, huffed softly, as he joined her in her nap.

She had no idea how long she had slept for, but she never woke up for dinner. Kakashi peered through the doorway once he had finished, drying his hands with a dishtowel as he did so, but she seemed so peaceful, he didn’t dare wake her. Not after all the physical strain he knew she had been through. Pregnancy was hard on her body, even when she seemed like she was doing nothing. After all, it was exhausting growing a new life within yourself. Smiling softly, Kakashi put away the leftovers and climbed into bed with his fiancée. He snuggled up close behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and sighing softly, contentedly. He hoped she knew how much he loved her. He hoped he made it clear enough. He caressed her belly beneath the blanket, thought of the child they would bring into the world, and kissed the curve of her jaw softly. She sighed in her sleep and his heart soared.

Truly, there was no one else in the world he could imagine committing himself to. She was his everything and nothing would ever change that. Ever.


End file.
